BMW i Charger in the garage? Or just go with the supplied cord? What do you do?

ghaffari46 · 09-29-2022, 06:55 AM

I'm using its own i8 110v charger in the 2 years of ownership without any problem. I get home around 5-6 pm, plug in and leave around 8am next day and car is fully charged. Don't waste your money for extra wall chargers, it's ain't a Tesla!

tommyb13662 · 09-29-2022, 09:26 AM

Maybe it was the outlet but last time I used the 110v bmw one it was 4 hours later and still not full. Pretty sure it was 5 hours+. For the in reality minute E-range to me it was useless. So yea... i bought a dual lvl1+2 to keep in the trunk instead of the bmw one. And for 200-300$ worth it IMO. These being collectors cars now. I can see in the future that range increasing with future batteries.

thesubmitter · 10-01-2022, 11:09 AM

What i realized is that there is an option on the car to control charge speed and its default is way lower than 15A, made a big difference. I will normally drive my car on edrive mode the last km home with 2-3km mileage and by 11AM next day its fully charged again

tommyb13662 · 10-01-2022, 07:05 PM

Even on max setting in the car. A 110v outlet is only 1500watt. At best the BMW level one is 85% efficiency convertinting. So lets call it 1200 watts . So even the early cars with only 5.6KWH usable its at least 5 hours to charge up. The newer ones with an 11.7KWH battery has around 8KWH usable. Thats still 7 hours charge @1.2kw. So on the weekend if i ran to a shop to grab something. It wouldnt even be half charged by the time we went out to dinner. But at level 2 it only takes 2 hours. Because 220v even only 15amp is over 3kw. But most are at least 30 Amp. Enough to be able to charge in an hour if the car had supported it.

Just be thankful its not a Tesla. Takes 2 days for a 75KWH battery at level 1. The 100KWH takes 3 days at level one to charge.

View Poll Results: Level 2 Charger or Not
Yes -- buy the bigger charger	10	32.26%
No -- stay with the free cable supplied	21	67.74%
Voters: 31. You may not vote on this poll

09-29-2022, 06:55 AM	#45
ghaffari46 Captain 1108 Rep 681 Posts Drives: bmw m3 e90 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: us iTrader: (0)	I'm using its own i8 110v charger in the 2 years of ownership without any problem. I get home around 5-6 pm, plug in and leave around 8am next day and car is fully charged. Don't waste your money for extra wall chargers, it's ain't a Tesla!
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09-29-2022, 09:26 AM	#46
tommyb13662 Second Lieutenant 52 Rep 284 Posts Drives: 2009 135i Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Philadelphia iTrader: (0)	Maybe it was the outlet but last time I used the 110v bmw one it was 4 hours later and still not full. Pretty sure it was 5 hours+. For the in reality minute E-range to me it was useless. So yea... i bought a dual lvl1+2 to keep in the trunk instead of the bmw one. And for 200-300$ worth it IMO. These being collectors cars now. I can see in the future that range increasing with future batteries.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

10-01-2022, 11:09 AM	#47
thesubmitter Private First Class 16 Rep 158 Posts Drives: Tesla M3 BMW i8 Acura MDX Join Date: Feb 2020 Location: Canada iTrader: (0)	What i realized is that there is an option on the car to control charge speed and its default is way lower than 15A, made a big difference. I will normally drive my car on edrive mode the last km home with 2-3km mileage and by 11AM next day its fully charged again
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10-01-2022, 07:05 PM	#48
tommyb13662 Second Lieutenant 52 Rep 284 Posts Drives: 2009 135i Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Philadelphia iTrader: (0)	Even on max setting in the car. A 110v outlet is only 1500watt. At best the BMW level one is 85% efficiency convertinting. So lets call it 1200 watts . So even the early cars with only 5.6KWH usable its at least 5 hours to charge up. The newer ones with an 11.7KWH battery has around 8KWH usable. Thats still 7 hours charge @1.2kw. So on the weekend if i ran to a shop to grab something. It wouldnt even be half charged by the time we went out to dinner. But at level 2 it only takes 2 hours. Because 220v even only 15amp is over 3kw. But most are at least 30 Amp. Enough to be able to charge in an hour if the car had supported it. Just be thankful its not a Tesla. Takes 2 days for a 75KWH battery at level 1. The 100KWH takes 3 days at level one to charge.
	Appreciate 0 Quote